Weekend Predictions: The 5th Old Firm Derby of the Season, Fergie vs Sparky and the Return of Drogbacite

By: Daryl | May 8th, 2009

It’s a British football special this week, with the Old Firm derby, the Manchester derby, and a more important than it looks London derby between Arsenal and Chelsea.

Read on for predictions, and also the best work of Drogbacite’s career…

Rangers vs Celtic, May 9th, 12:30pm

You know the deal here. Glasgow’s two biggest teams (with all respect to Partick Thistle) are not too fond of each other for all kinds of reasons. And – just for a change – the Old Firm are battling it out at the top of the Scottish Prem, where Celtic lead Rangers by just one point.

These two have already met four times this season, with results as follows:

Celtic 2-4 Rangers (August 31st 2008)
Rangers 0-1 Celtic (December 27th 2008)
Celtic 0-0 Rangers (February 15th 2009)
Celtic 2-0 Rangers (March 15th 2009 – League Cup Final)

Prediction: I don’t see Rangers losing two Old Firm derbies at Ibrox in one season, especially not with all Celtic’s injury problems. I’m going 2-1 Rangers with former Celtic man Kenny Miller getting a goal.

Odds: Rangers 7/5, Draw 23/10, Celtic 19/10
2-1 Rangers win: 15/2
Kenny Miller to score first: 13/2
More odds at PaddyPower

Man Utd vs Man City, Sunday May 10th, 1:30pm

It all looks good for Man Utd right now, but this is exactly the sort of game where they could drop points. Man City won both derbies 2-1 last season, and that was with Sven in charge and without Robinho. Utd claimed a 1-0 at Eastlands back in November, but City have finally got their act together with three wins from their last three.

Prediction: The Citizens will take two points of Man Utd with a 0-0 draw.

Odds: Man Utd 4/11, Draw 7/2, Man City 17/2
0-0 draw: 12/1
More odds at PaddyPower

Bonus Prediction: Mark Hughes will try out Fergie’s seat in the dugout, just to see what it feels like.

Arsenal vs Chelsea, Sunday, May 10th, 4pm

I’ve never seen two teams exit the Champions League in such different styles. Arsenal offered no resistance as Man Utd breezed past, while Chelsea raged raged against the dying of the light. But this game is just to decide third and fourth place, right??

Well, yes, but…

There’s a big difference between third and fourth this season. Third qualifies directly for the group stage of the 2009/10 Champions League, while fourth faces a dangerous playoff game against a randomly drawn opponent.

Arsenal are a different animal when Andrei Arshavin’s allowed to play, and a win here would halve the gap between themselves and Chelsea to just three points. Meanwhile a win for Chelsea means they’re still in the title race (but only just).

Prediction: All depends on how Chelsea react to what happened on Wednesday. Will they sulk or will they have a point to prove? I’ll hedge my bets and go 2-2, with Arshavin getting another goal.

Odds: Arsenal 13/8, Draw 11/5, Chelsea 17/10
2-2 draw: 11/1
Arshavin to score first: 15/2
More odds at PaddyPower

Bonus Prediction: This will be #1 in England soon:

(tip of the hat to Marcus for spotting that)

Over on Bet Offside, Offshore Oscar is backing The Offside’s favourite Premier League team Hull City to beat Stoke.

Time for a look at last week’s prediction. The scores were:

Real Madrid 2-6 Barcelona
Liverpool 3-0 Newcastle
Hamburg 1-1 Hertha Berlin

I picked up just a single point for predicting a Liverpool win (but was way off with my 4-3 scoreline). Not a good week for myself. Here’s who made the podium:

(nb: we’re adding a tie-breaker to prevent the podium getting too crowded: Closest number of total goals scored in the three games. There were 13 goals scored in the above games.)

Gold
John: 8pts. Predicted a Barca win, got the Liverpool and Hamburg scorelines spot on, and predicted Kuyt would find the net.

Silver
Mustafa: 6pts. Predicted the Barca win, Messi scoring, Liverpool winning 3-0 and a draw between HSV and Hertha. His predictions added up to 12 goals.

Bronze
Drabik, Toby: 6pts and both predicted a total of 10 goals, so no splitting them.

So, what do you see happening this weekend?

It’s a point for correct result (home win, draw, away win) or three points for a correct scoreline. Also please predict one (and only one) goalscorer. You get a bonus point if that player finds the net.

Rangers – Celtic
Man Utd – Man City
Arsenal – Chelsea